Economics Department Internship Policy for Academic Credit
1. PURPOSE:
An internship experience can be a valuable part of a student's undergraduate education. It offers the opportunity for two-way educational
enhancement: concrete application is brought into the academic program and helps solidify and advance formal learning, and classroom learning
is brought into the practical world and helps prepare the student to use formal learning in a socially instrumental fashion after graduation. The
Department of Economics seeks to promote the inclusion of internship experience in undergraduate studies, by offering limited academic credit
for qualifying internships.
2. QUALIFYING WORK:
To provide the basis for academic credit, internship work, either paid or unpaid, must be verified to meet all of the following criteria:
a.
is connected to the student’s overall educational goals (may or may not be connected to the major),
b.
offers substantial learning opportunities,
c.
allows for significant career exploration,
d.
is well supervised by someone with enough relevant expertise to ensure that the internship will be an educational experience,
e.
includes meeting with the student’s employment supervisor in-person and on-site a minimum of once a week.
The faculty sponsor and the Department Chair have final authority to judge whether work qualifies.
3. REGISTRATION QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDIT LIMITS:
Enrollment in ECON 487 V is limited to economics majors and minors who have completed both ECON 202 and ECON 204 with a grade of at
least C in each.
Registration in ECON 487 V shall be for 1 to 3 credits as justified by the duration and nature of the work hours committed. Required work hour
commitment must be at least 40 hours of qualified work (as defined in Section 2 above) per credit.
Credit for ECON 487 V will count toward graduation in the "free elective" block, but will NOT count in the 33-credit economics block required
for the major, nor in the 21 credits required for the minor. Grading of ECON 487 V is by "Instructor Option."
Credit will NOT be approved for internship work accomplished before the completion of the Internship Agreement.
4.
APPROVAL PROCEDURE:
a.
Information: The student is responsible for acquiring full and accurate information about the quantity and nature of the internship
work proposed. Such information will include, but is not limited to the following: name and field of the employer; name, position,
address, and telephone number of the contact person; beginning and ending dates of the work; hours per week and total hours
involved; nature of the work, including (when appropriate) percentage breakdown among duties such as data collection, data analysis,
training, clerical work, customer contact, etc. Normally, this information will be included in a written statement from the employer.
b.
Faculty Sponsor: Either independently or with the guidance of the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies, the student identifies a
faculty sponsor for the internship. The faculty sponsor shall be chosen on the basis of availability, areas of interest, and current
sponsorship load.
c.
Qualifying Work: The faculty sponsor shall determine the amount of qualifying work and associated credit.
d.
Internship Agreement: An Internship Agreement must be completed and signed by the student and the sponsoring faculty member,
and approved by the Chair, before the end of the registration period for the semester. The Internship Agreement must set out the
objectives, the work requirements and timetable, and the grading option and criteria. The Department provides a standard form for the
Agreement.
e.
Evaluation: Upon completion of the internship and before any academic credit is awarded, the student will:
1/ request of the employer written verification of successful completion of the work requirements, and
2/ submit a post-internship report following the guidelines provided by the Department.
The faculty sponsor may seek additional information as appropriate. A grade will be assigned and credit awarded during the semester
the internship is completed.
5.
POST-INTERNSHIP REPORT
Academic credit will only be awarded after the student submits to the faculty sponsor a written report containing the following information:
PART I: Contact Information
a.
Student name and student number,
b.
Name and address of contact person/supervisor of internship.
PART II: Experience
a.
How would you rate your internship experience: poor, okay, very good, excellent?
Please respond thoroughly to all questions below (minimum one paragraph per question):
b.
How did you locate this internship opportunity?
c.
Describe the projects and tasks you worked on and the results that were achieved as a result of your efforts.
d.
What skills did you use most often in your work? What new skills and abilities did you develop and how will they be helpful to you in
the future?
e.
Describe any difficulties and challenges you experienced and how you addressed them over the course of your internship.
f.
How did your academic studies help to prepare you for this internship? How will this experience inform your future studies when you
return to CSU?
g.
In what ways did your internship contribute to your larger career and/or academic goals? How have your goals shifted?
h.
Where do you see yourself headed now that you didn't before?
Internship Agreement Form
ECON 487
Reference #
STUDENT INFORMATION:
Name
Student Number
Local Address
Semester
Credits (1 to 3)
EMPLOYER INFORMATION:
___
_
__
Name _____________________________
City
___________________________
Field of Business ____________________
Telephone
Grades:
ECON 202
ECON GPA
ECON 204
Overall
FACULTY SPONSOR:
Professor:
Grading Option:
Basis of Grade:
Contact Person
___________________________
Title
___________________________
Address ___________________________
___________________________
Telephone _________________________
TIME COMMITMENT:
Beginning Work Date
____________________
Ending Work Date ____________________
Hours Worked per Week
Total Hours Worked
___________________
Internship Objectives:
Description of Duties for Internship:
Percentage Breakdown of Duties (such as data collection, data analysis, training, clerical work, customer contact):
Integrated Academic Work, if any, with Timetable:
Signatures to be obtained before the end of the registration period for the semester:
Student Signature
Date
Faculty Sponsor Signature
Date
Chair Signature
Date